The 2012 annual MADLaT conference was marked by a number of changes at various levels. Indeed, circumstances evolve, conditions shift, and organizing a major event like this conference requires adapting to these new situations and constraints.In the summer of 2011, an ad hoc committee made up of Debbie Jenning, Claudius Soodeen, Iwona Gniadek and myself met to review how the conference is organized and try to find ways to simplify the process. Several items were discussed, such as the number of workshops and sessions, the conference schedule and the holding of an opening banquet, but the main concern centred around the human resources needed throughout the year to organize the conference. Each year, a number of volunteers offer to support the event, but owing to increasing workloads, most are unable to follow through on their commitment to MADLaT due to lack of time. Thus, it was important that this situation be addressed. The solution adopted by the committee was to hire a conference manager.Other changes were made to the organization of the conference. Here are the main ones:

The opening banquet on Wednesday evening was dropped, as it has been poorly attended in the past;

Changes were made to the registration fees. To encourage participants to register early, the early-bird fees did not go up, while the group rates did;

A program was published. This tool was supposed to enable us to sell advertising space but that goal was not achieved. However, not having to include papers in the bags saved us a considerable amount of preparation time;

A panel was held as the last event of the conference.

Those were the most visible changes and they were accompanied by a number of planning-related innovations. The conference manager’s final report will indicate whether the changes were beneficial or not.Most of the duties of a MADLaT president relate to organizing the conference. However, this year, the association was contacted by the Adult Secondary Education Council (ASEC) to explore the possibility of a potential collaboration. I briefly attended one of their board meetings where Glen Brouwer, the president, came to speak to us for a few minutes about the project. At the time this report was written, no further action had been taken on the proposal, which is still under consideration.In closing, for the eleventh year in a row, the interest shown by participants in the MADLaT conference illustrates the significant role that this event plays for stakeholders in the field. As technology evolves and new practices continue to develop, this type of event grows in importance and scope. However, it will be crucial to reassess the capacity of members to organize next year’s conference, and further steps will no doubt need to be taken to better address the issue.Thank you for your attention,Carolle RoyPresident MADLaT________________________________________MADLaT Conference 2012Rapport de la présidentLe 4 mai 2012Le congrès annuel 2012 de l’AMFAD a été marqué par plusieurs changements à différents niveaux. En effet, les contextes changent, les conditions de réalisation changent et l’organisation d’un évènement important comme ce congrès doit s’adapter à ces nouvelles réalités et contraintes.Au cours de l’été 2011, un comité ad hoc formé de Debbie Jenning, Claudius Soodeen, Iwona Gniadek et moi-même s’est réuni pour étudier le processus d’organisation du congrès et tenter de trouver des avenues différentes pour alléger cette mise en place. Plusieurs éléments ont alors été discutés comme le nombre d’ateliers et de sessions, l’horaire ou la tenue du banquet d’ouverture. Mais la principale préoccupation concerne les ressources humaines nécessaires tout au long de l’année pour l’organisation du congrès. Chaque année, plusieurs bénévoles s’offrent pour appuyer l’événement, mais la charge de chacun augmente et la majorité de ces personnes ne peuvent remplir leur engagement envers l’AMFAD, faute de temps. Il était donc indispensable de tenir compte de cette réalité. Pour remédier à cette situation, le comité a opté pour l’embauche d’un gérant de congrès.D’autres modifications ont été apportées au processus d’organisation. Parmi celles-ci, nous retrouvons principalement :